Havelock

Welcome to

the Havelock Island

The Island (often just called Havelock) is one of the most beautiful and largest island of Ritchie’s Archipelago. Situated 57 km north east of the South Andamans with an area of 92 Sq.Kms offers a breathtaking trail of serene nature. The island is primarily populated by Bengali settlers.

This picturesque Island with beautiful sandy beaches and lush green forest hosts two of the world’s most renowned beaches; Vijaynagar Beach and Radhanagar Beach. The Island also has got the biggest concentration of diving and snorkeling sites, thus one hell of a paradise to marine world explorers.

Sights

Map

Important places at Havelock Island

The most beautiful beach on the island and rated as the best in Asia in 2004 by Time Magazine. Lovely white sand backed by a forest that provides welcome shade looking out over turquoise water. Some stretches with a sandy bottom are good for swimming and some with excellent coral reefs are great for snorkeling. One of the few beaches in India where the waves are perfect for ‘dawn patrol’ – which means surfing at dawn. The beach is well maintained and is ideal for sunbathing. Sunset is a particularly beautiful time to be there. Something not to miss !

Vijaynagar beach, fringed with the tall Mahua trees, stretches towards the east coast of the island. The tall trees on the beach allows visitors to rest under its shade and enjoy the slow waves playing magic with the sunshine. It’s where most of the ‘hotel and resorts’ are situated, but we are not talking about big commercial resorts, more, something very simple and uncomplicated. The waters around the beach are quite shallow and therefore not ideal for swimming or other water sport activities.

This is another quaint beach located about 5 kilometers from Vijaynagar beach (Beach No: 5). The waters here are not as shallow as those in Vijaynagar beach (Beach No: 5) and therefore suitable for swimming. The beach gets its name from the large black stone ensconced in the sea.

Elephant Beach is further north from Radha Nagar and is popular with Indian tourists. It’s amazing how the water changes color with the light. A host of water sports and nature activities are on offer at this beach including snorkeling, undersea water walking and jet skiing. For those who aren’t natural water babies there is still plenty of opportunity to take in the beauty of the corals with rides in a glass-bottomed boat and on a water scooter. There is also a walking trail nearby for the more adventurous. The beach however is small, so tends to get crowded and there is no food available so it is best to carry your own.

Neil Cove at Havelock is located northwest of Radhanagar beach. Neil Cove is great for snorkeling. Here water is usually calm and it is very clear. The best snorkeling spot is on the right side along the rocks. The farther out you go, the better is gets and fish as big as five feet long can also be spotted. Turtles have also been seen here. The best time is between low and high tides. Swimming is prohibited at dusk and dawn and it is best to pay attention to any warnings about saltwater crocodiles.

ELEPHANT TRAINING CAMP

At Elephant Training Camp you can see elephants trained to work in the forest. They are taught to drag logs around with a chain and to push logs up a slope and stack them on a platform. Elephant training camp is open between 9.30 and 11.30 am. Andamanadventure

JAPANESE HILL

Japanese Hill is a steep hill through the rainforest, which gives you a view through the trees of Havelock Island, beach, birds, butterflies and repitiles. It is located behind Barefoot at Havelock. Andamanadventure

BIRD WATCHING

218 species of birds are found in Andaman and NIcobar Islands and many of them can be spotted in Havelock Islands. Its rainforest is full of their calls especially early in the morning. Drongos, Kingfishers, parrots & Myna are to name a few. The best places to see birds are along the edge of the beaches, in the rainforest, on the way to Elephant beach in the rainforest and the lagoon. Andamanadventure

AYURVEDIC MASSAGE

Ayurvedic Massage in the lap of the forest can be arranged at Havelock Island. Andamanadventure

EATING at HAVELOCK

Foodoholic’s can cherish their time here with excellent fresh seafoods washed down with ice cold beer mostly available in small restaurants or beach shacks. Those wishing to travel a bit further can make a short trip to the nearby Radhanagar Beach and Vijaynagar Beach where even more variety is offered!. Lastly, you can have mouth watering cuisines too in one or two of the larger hotel restaurants. Something for every budget and every palet.

DIVING AT HAVLOCK

Havelock has some pristine reefs and dive sites.

Mac Point : Mostly hard coral with good visibility. Dugong have been spotted here.

Aquarium : Mostly hard coral with good visibility and lots of fish.

Baracuda City : Lots of fish and some turtles with soft and hard coral.

Turtle Bay: An easy 14m dive where you can see rays.

Seduction Point : A huge rock with deep and shallow parts and stag horn corals.

Lighthouse :A huge site, good for night dives with hard and soft coral.

The Wall : A huge submerged rock that goes to 55 metres with soft coral and very large shoals of fish.

Pilot Reef : Big block hard coral with canyons at the bottom. You can see leoprd and white tipped sharks.